1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protective bag for growing fruit, such as an apple. More specifically, the invention relates to a growing fruit protective bag which controls the level of exposure of the fruit to sunlight.
2. Description of the Related Art
On some farms, it is known to cover growing fruit, such as apples, with paper bags for protecting the growing fruit from disease and avoiding insects which eat the fruit during the growth and ripening period. In addition, by enclosing the fruit in a light shielding protective bag, the fruit becomes stiffer, to permit longer periods of storage. After sufficient growth of the fruit, the protective bag must be removed from the fruit to expose it to sunlight for coloring of the outer skin (ripening) of the fruit.
In removing the protective bag, care should be taken so that the fruit may not become sunburned, degrading the quality of the fruit. For this reason, it is typical to use protective bags having two layers of bags (occasionally three bags) for covering the fruit. When it is time to remove the protective bag, only an outer bag is initially removed, leaving the inner bag or bags on the fruit. The inner bag or bags are provided a certain level of permeability to sunlight so that a controlled amount of sunlight is irradiated onto the surface of the fruit. The inner bag is maintained on the fruit for another several days so that the fruit may be exposed to the sunlight in a controlled, limited amount for conditioning the fruit to the sunlight. After expiration of the conditioning period, the inner bag is removed to fully expose the fruit to the sunlight for coloring of the outer skin.
In such a conventional process of fruit growing, at least two separate steps of protective bag removal are required. Since the protective bag is provided for each individual piece of fruit, the protective bag removal operation is very labor intensive and time consuming. This clearly lowers efficiency in growing the fruit and results in high production cost.